06/03/2021
Dear Woodlanders,
Signs of spring are abounding here in the community woodland! It is a joy to hear the birds all singing for mates and territories, the woodpeckers drumming and the shoots emerging from the sleepy soil. Frogspawn has appeared, and sap is rising in the trees. The birds we can hear will soon be building nests in which to rear their young, so I have called time on bushwhacking and tree felling. Amid this sense new life, we have not been idle. Here’s what’s been happening.
Richard Blore returned once more with his versatile excavator. This time, a real mile marker has been reached. A clearing has been created by the footings of the old sawmill, reopening a work area that has seen a lack of action for far too long. With this new space, we can stack and process firewood and eventually season it. We can also bring saw logs here for ready for sale or for our own use. A second storage container is on the agenda, too, to house a mechanical workhorse. Possibility abounds!
The pond restoration project has also reached a crucial stage. Rounding off the cutting season and in advance of the growing season, seed was sown around the pond where the rhodies have been beaten back. Two different seed mixes were employed, both made up of native species. Along the pond margins, seeds of pond-edge plants that should provide vital habitat and help buffer nutrient run-off into the pond. These are species like marsh marigold, water avens, forget-me-not and reedmace. Further up the banks, a mix of classic woodland plants like primrose and violets as well as grasses. Really exciting stuff. Please avoid trampling along the pond margin to give these germinating plants the best chance of success. The seed mixes were supplied by Scotia Seeds, and have provenance mostly in Perthshire.
Firewood is accumulating! We will continue to cut and split what we can to provide the community with logs that should season nicely this coming summer ready for burning next winter. If you would like some green logs, give me a shout (amos@ccdt.org.uk). Green logs are £50 a bag.
I hope you are enjoying the signs of Spring as they appear. If you have seen or heard something exciting, get in touch or stick a photo on our Natural History Club Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/216578480025439/
If you don’t use Facebook then feel free to email across to me – amos@ccdt.org.uk
Stay tuned for more updates, and as ever, please don’t hesitate to get in touch about anything woodsy.
Cheers for now,
Amos